Feature Friday: The Negro Exodus, 1882

The following item was found in the 4 January 1882 issue (Vol. 2, No. 50) of the The Advertiser, published in Clarkesville, Habersham Co., GA.

The Negro Exodus.

The Atlanta Post-Appeal says that on the 28th December between five and six hundred negroes from Edgefield county, South Carolina, passed through Atlanta on their way to Arkansas. They are under the leadership of a colored preacher named Hammond who had promised to have a chartered train waiting for them at Augusta, but failed to do so, and the party had to pay full rates to Atlanta. They say they found it too hard to make a living in South Carolina and determined to go elsewhere. Hammond went to Arkansas some time ago and examined the country, and on his return advised the negroes to go out there. It is expected that thousands, altogether, will go.